Thursday, February 15, 2007

The other day, a public radio station in New Mexico took an exemplary position on the role of media and how credible news should be presented.

News director Bill Dupuy of KSFR in Santa Fe, New Mexico instructed his staff to "ignore national stories quoting unnamed sources." Thank goodness Mr. Dupuy realizes how easily a single misleading, false flag story can create the momentum to direct public opinion in a particular direction normally considered unacceptable. We've been down that dead-end road before.

The message to his staff:

Effectively immediately and until further notice, it is the policy of KSFR's news department to ignore and not repeat any wire service or nationally published story about Iran, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia or any other foreign power that quotes an "unnamed" U.S. official.

What we have suspected and talked about at length before is now becoming clear. "High administration officials speaking on the condition of anonymity," "Usually reliable Washington sources," and others of the like were behind the publicity that added credibility to the need to go to war against Afghanistan and Iraq.

Our news department covers local news. But, like local newspapers and others, we occassionally are taken in by national stories that we have no way to verify.

This is a small news department with a small reach. We cannot research these stories ourselves. But we can take steps not to compromise our integrity. We should not dutifully parrot whatever comes out of Washington, on thewire or by whatever means, no matter how intriguing and urgent it sounds, when the source is unnamed.

I am also calling on our colleagues in other local news departments -- broadcast and print -- to take the same professional approach.